Elevating mechanism



Feb. 15, 1938.

G. W. VON HOFE ET AL ELEVATING MECHANISM Fied May ll,' 1936 GEORGEATTORNEYS Patented Feb. 15, 1938 so STATES PATENT ELEVATING MECHANISMApplication May 11, 1936,.Serial No. 79,188 9 Claims. (01; 271-62) Ourinvention relates to elevating mechanism and more particularly tomechanism for automatically elevating a table or other support atintervals to meetan. operative requirement of '5; the machine in whichsaid mechanism is embodied, as exemplified for instance by the periodicraising of a stack of labels, sheets or the like to periodically restorethe upper end of said stack to a predetermined level. The invention hasfor its object to provide an improved and novel elevating mechanism ofsimplified construction which is extremely sensitive in action andcapable of operating with maximum efficiency at all speeds andparticularly athigh speeds.

The invention contemplates further the provision of a. novel elevatingmechanism adapted particularly for incorporation in machines including asuitably operated suction head for removing sheets, labels or the likefrom said stack in individual succession. Another object of theinvention is. to provide a novel controlling device or: feelerco-operating with the stack to control the operation of the elevatingmechanism and itself operated by the means which controls the operativemovements of the aforesaid suction head.

()ther objects will appear from the description hereinafter and thefeatures of novelty will be pointed out in the claims.

Intheaccompanying drawing which illustrates an example of the inventionwithout defining its limits, Fig. l is a fragmentary elevation of amachine embodying the novel features, and Fig. 2 is a detail enlargedsection on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

For the purpose of illustration and description the novel arrangementsare'incorporated in a labeling machine in which the labels are removedfrom a stack in individual succession by a suitably operated suctionhead and transferred to'the placeof application, said labels receiving acoating of adhesive on one surface during transfer from the stack to theplace of applica tion; it is to be distinctly understood that this is inno sense to be construed as defining the limits of the invention whichobviously may be embodied, with equal efficiency, in other types ofmachines.

In the illustrated example. of the elevating mechanism an upright stack5 .of labels or their equivalent is contained within a hopper 6 or. thelike and is carried by a table or. other support I vertically movablewithin said hopper 6 in the manner to be more fully describedhereinafter. The hopper 6 is conveniently mounted on; the

frame 8 of. the machine: as=shown-forqinstance in Ill fixed upon a shaftll suitably jo-urnalled on 10 the frame 8 of the machine. The shaft Hfurther carries a ratchet wheel i2 which is arranged to, be operated inthe manner to be more fully set forth hereinafter by means of anoperating pawl i3. The latter is carried by an arm Hi piv- 15 oted at 15upon one end of an actuating member or lever Hi loosely mounted on theshaft I! so as to be capable of rocking thereon. The mechanismfurtherincludes suitable means for operating the actuating member or lever iii,in 20 the manner and for the purpose more fully set forth hereinafter,to periodically restore the upper end. of the stack 5 to a predeterminedlevel. In the illustrated example the opposite end of the lever isaccordingly provided with a roller ll arranged for rolling engagementwith an operating cam l8'fixed upon a shaft l9 suitably journalled in'the frame 8' of the machine and rotatably actuated in properly timedrelation with the other parts of the machine in any con- 30 ventionalmanner. The cam i8 comprises a main section a and a secondary section I)both of saidsections being concentric to the shaft 19, the section bhowever having a smaller radius than thesection it and constituting thelow por- 35 .tion of the cam l8. The lever I6 further includes a member20 which projects transversely from the lever I 6 and near its outerfree end portion carries a projection which is illustrated in the formof a plate 2! secured to the member 40 2D in any suitable manner. Aspring 22 has its one end connected to the member 28 and its other endsecured to a lug 23 of the frame 8 and servestomaintain theroller H inproper operative engagement with the cam i8. To main- 45 tain' theratchet wheel l2 against unintentional operation during the movements ofrecovery of the pawl IS; a stop pawl 24 is-provided and is pivoted at 25upon the frame 8 of the machine; in order to enable the table or othersupport I to 50 be manually adjusted independently of its operatingmechanism, the stop pawl 24 may include an operating handle 25 and a pin26 adapted by engagement with an extension 2! of the arm L4. to.disengage the pawl I3 from the ratchet 55 wheel I 2 coincidentally withthe disengagement of the stop pawl 24 therefrom.

As the individual labels or other equivalent are removed in successionfrom the upper end of the stack by being upwardly lifted out of thehopper 6 in the manner to be more fully described hereinafter, the stack5 will gradually and progressively be reduced in height. As long as theupper end of. said stack 5 has not dropped below a predetermined level,the elevating mechanism will remain inactive and the table or othersupport I will not be operatively disturbed. The controlling meanswhereby this result is accomplished comprises a controlling member 28depending from a lug 29 fixed upon or forming part of the frame 6 andpivoted to said lug 29 at 38 as shown in Fig. 1; near its lower end thecontrolling member 28 is provided with a recess 3| forming a shoulder 32adapted to extend beneath the projection or plate 2| to thereby restrainthe member 26 against movement by the action of the spring 22 and thuspreventing the roller I! from dropping to the section b of the cam I8 asthe latter rotates. As long as this condition remains, the actuatingmember or lever 16 will be held in an inoperative stationary positionand the operating pawl [3 will not be actuated with the result that theratchet wheel l2 will also remain stationary so that no elevation of thetable or other support 1 takes place.

When however a sufiicient number of successive labels have been removedfrom the stack 5 to bring its upper end below a predetermined level, thecontrolling member 28 will be pivotally actuated to shift the shoulder32 from beneath the projection or plate 2i and to thereby permit thespring 22 to swing the member 20 and the actuating member or lever l6 ina direction to shift the roller ll from the section a of the rotatingcam 18 to the section 1) thereof. As this occurs the lever l6 will berocked on the shaft H in a direction to. move the pawl l3 toward theright in Fig. 1 and accordingly will correspondingly rotate the ratchetwheel [2 and the pinion [6 to thereby vertically move the rack 9 andwith it the table or other support 1 and stack 5 correspondingly, theseoperations being repeated until the top of the stack 5 has been restoredto a predetermined level. The means whereby these results are effectedmay, as shown in the illustrated example, comprise a releasing member 33loosely mounted on a shaft 34 journalled in the frame 8, said member 33depending from said shaft 34 beyond the pivoted end of the member 28, asshown in Fig. 1; at its lower end the releasing member 33 carries anadjustable projection illustrated in the form of a set screw 35, itbeing understood that the members 33 and 28 are in registry with eachother at their contiguous ends and that the projection or screw 35 isarranged to periodically act upon the member 28 in the manner to be morefully set forth hereinafter. The shaft 34 is further provided with atripping device illustrated in the form of a yoke 36 secured upon theshaft 34 for instance by pins 31 so as to partake of the movementsthereof; the yoke 36 as shown in Fig. 2 projects across the releasingmember 33 so as to be capable under certain conditions to be referred tomore fully hereinafter, of engaging and swinging the member 33relatively to the shaft 34. The latter in addition carries a bell cranklever 38, one arm of. which is provided with a roller 39 and the otherarm of which is pivotally connected at 40 with a rod or pitmari 41.

The rod or pitman 4| in turn is pivotally connected at 42 with a slideor the like 43 mounted for vertical reciprocation in a guideway 44suitably fixed upon the frame 8 of the machine. The slide 43 carries atits lower end a feeler or determinator 45, the free end of which is inthe form of a shoe or plate 46 adapted to engage and rest upon the upperend of the stack 5 as shown.

As previously stated, the novel elevating mechanism is adaptedparticularly for incorporation in machines including a suitably operatedsuction head for removing the labels or their equivalent from the stack5 in individual succession. The novel feeler or determinator 45 isadjusted into and out of engagement with the upper end of the stack 5 insynchronism with the operations of the suction head by means whichcontrol the operative movements of said suction head; in other words thefeeler or determinator 45 is lifted away from the stack 5 to permit thesuccessive terminal labels or their equivalent to be removed from saidstack 5 by the suction head. As shown in the illustrated example themachine accordingly may include a shaft 41 suitably journalled in theframe 8 of the machine and carrying a cam 48 adapted to act upon theroller 39 to thereby operate the bell crank lever 38 and its associatedelements in a manner to shift the feeler or determinator 45 away fromthe top of the stack 5 to a temporarily raised and inoperative positionto permit the removal of a terminal label from the upper end of thestack 5; the illustrated arrangement is such that the feeler ordeterminator 45 will drop back to its operative position in engagementwith the upper end of the stack 5 by gravity at the proper time. Theshaft 41 further carries an arm 49 which is pivotally connected at 50with a rod 5! operatively combined with a spring controlled coupling 52pivotally secured at 53 upon a carrier 54. The latter is slidablymounted for horizontal reciprocation upon a guide rail 55 suitablymounted in the machine and extending horizontally in a manner to permitthe necessary range of movement of the carrier 54; the latter supportsthe suction head 56 which may be of any conventional and suitablecharacter and is connected in any customary manner with a source ofsuction controlled in any well-known way to develop and cut off thesuction in the head 56 in proper synchronism with the other operationsof the machine. The suction head 56 is further mounted on the carrier 54so as to be capable of vertical reciprocation relatively thereto, itbeing understood that any conventional mechanism may be included in themachine for this purpose; as this mechanism forms no part of theinvention, it has been deemed unnecessary to illustrate the same. Themachine shown in the drawing further includes a receptacle 5'! forcontaining a supply of adhesive and an adhesive transfering roller 58rotatably mounted at 59 so as to dip into the adhesive in the container51; the transfer roller 58 is in tangential rolling engagement with anadhesive applying roller 66 carried by a shaft 6| rotatably mounted onthe frame 8 in any convenient way.

In the operation of the machine the shaft 41 is rocked on its axis bysuitable mechanism to cause the carrier 54 to be slidably reciprocatedupon the guide rail 55 to thereby bring the suction head 56 alternatelyinto registry with the stack 5 and with the article 0 to which a labelis to be applied, said article 0 having previously been brought to thepoint at which application of the label is to take place. When thesuction head 56 is located in registry with the stack 5 it isautomatically connected with the source of suction in the conventionalmanner, and at the same time is lowered into contact with the upper endof said stack 5 by suitable mechanism and accordingly picks up theterminal label from said stack in the customary manner; when theterminal label has been picked up by the suction head 56 the latter israised and with the label located thereon is moved to the left to theposition illus-' trated in Fig. 1. During its travel from a point inregistry with the stack 5 to the applying position illustrated in Fig.1, the label carried by thehead 56 is passed over the adhesive applyingroller 66 in tangential engagement therewith so that the lower surfaceof said label becomes coated with adhesive prior to the time it reachesthe point of application shown in Fig. 1; when this point of applicationis reached the suction head is again lowered by suitable mechanism tobring it into contact with the article in a manner to apply the labelthereto, it being understood that at the proper time the suction is cutoff in the head and the latter again raised to its previous positionleaving the label in adhesive connection with the article 0. Theseoperations are then repeated throughout a given operative period of themachine. V I

As the shaft 41 is rocked'to develop the operations set forth above, thecam 38 will partake of the rocking movements of said shaft ll and byacting on the roller 39 will pivotally actuate the bell crank lever 38in a manner to raise the feeler or determinator 45 from the upper end ofthe stack 5; this actuation of the feeler or determinator 45 issynchronizedwith the operative movements of the suction head so thatwhen the latter operates" to remove the terminal label from the stack'5, the feeler or determinator will be temporarily raised to aninoperative position so as not to interfere with such removal; As thecarrier with the suction head 58 is slidably' will gradually return bygravity to its operative position in engagement with the upper end ofthe stack 5.

As the bell crank lever -38 is actuated in the manner set forth above,the shaft 3Q will be rocked on its axis and will correspondingly rockthe yoke 36 the extent of the rocking movements of the shaft 3 in areturn direction will gradually increase as the extent of downwardmovement of the feeler 45 increases in accordance with the gradualprogressive decrease in the height of the stack 5 due to the removal ofsuccessive labels therefrom.

When therefore the stack 5 is in its normal condition, the upper endthereof will be located at such a level that the roller 39 of the bellcrank lever 38 will not contact with-the cam 48 when the feeler ordeterminator l5 rests upon said upper end of the stack. As successivelabelsare removed from the stack, the feeler or de terminator 45 willmove to a progressively lower level before it comes to rest upon thestack 5 with the resultthat the roller 39 gradually approaches the camlfi because of the progressive increase in the return movement of thebell crank lever 38 resulting fromthe progressively greater downwardmovement of the feeler 45. During the rocking movements of the bellcrank lever 38 the shaft 3A is correspondingly rocked so that takes ofthese rocking movements which gradually increase in extent in onedirection as the height of the stack 5 progressively decreasesj Prior tothe time that the upper end of the stack passes below a predeterminedlevel, the range of movement of the yoke 36' will be insufficient tobring said yoke into engagement with the releasing member 33. Obviouslyas the. height of the stack 5 progressively decreases, this range ofmovement, as previously stated will gradually increase until finally theyoke 36 will be brought into engagement with the releasing member 33when the feeler or determinator i5 comes to rest upon the upper end ofthe stack 5. These operations will continue until eventually the rockingmovement of the yoke 36 in a downward direction will be sufiicie'nt toswing the releasing member 33 to the right in Fig. 1 to thereby causethe projection or set screw 35 to act on the control ling member 28 andto correspondingly swing the latter to the right on its pivot 30. As theresult of such movement of the controlling member 28 the shoulder 32.will be swung to the right in Fig. l to a releasing position in whichthe projection or plate 2! is no longer restrained thereby. At thisstage the member 20 is free to be acted upon by the spring 22 and thelever i6 is free to rock upon the shaft l I. It will be understood thatduring given operative periods of, the machine the cam I8 is rotativelyactuated by suitable mechanism so that when the projection or plate 2!is released as described above, the roller ll willperiodically. pass to.the low portion b of said cam; as this occurs the spring 22 by acting onthe :member 20 will rock the lever it on the shaft H and cause the pawl13 to rotate. the

ratchet wheel 52 and with it the pinion it. Ihe

latter in turn will act on the rack 9 in a manner to raise the latterand to correspondingly raise the table or other support land with it thestack 5. These operations are periodically repeated until the upper endof the stack 5 has been restored to a predetermined level so that whenthe feeler or determinator 65 comes to rest upon the top thereof, theparts will finally again occupy the position shown in Fig. 1 in whichthe range of movement of the yoke 36 as'determined by the engagement ofthe feeler i5 with the top of the stack 5 is no longer sufficient tocause a swinging movement of the releasing member 33. The latter willaccordingly swing back to its normal position and accordingly permit thecontrolling member 28 to correspondingly swing back to a position inwhich the shoulder 32 will again pass beneath the projection or plate 2!to lock the member 26 and with it the lever 56 and asscciated elementsagainst operation; in other words, to. again prevent the roller ll frompass" ing to the low section b of the cam is as the latter rotates. Theaforesaid'operationsare repeated at intervals to periodically restorethe upper end of the stack 5 to apredetermined position until the supplyof labels in the stack 5 is exhausted. When this stage. has beenreached, the table or other support i may be manually adjusted to itslowermost position for the purpose of receiving a new stack of labels.This manual adjustment of the table or other support 7 is easily madepossible by releasing the pawls 2d stationary until such time as theyare pivotally actuated as set forth above to permit the operation of theelevating mechanism. Because of this arrangement and due to the factthat the controlling member 28 is normally stationary, there is nodanger of unintentional disengagement of the shoulder 32 from theprojection or plate 2! because of vibrations set up in the member 28, asis. the case in existing arrangements in which a more or lesscorresponding element moves up and down as the machine operates. It isthus possible to operate the instant machine at any speed includingrelatively high speeds without effecting the efficiency or the intendedoperation of the novel elevating mechanism.

It will be noted that the movements of the feeler or determinator 45 arein vertical directions and are controlled by the same means whichcontrols the operation of the suction head. The machine is accordinglyvery much simplified and avoids the necessity for special mechanism forcontrolling and operating the feeler; at the same time with thearrangement shown and described the action of the feeler or determinator45 on the stack 5 is very light and develops no effect tending tocompress the stack 5 in the direction of its height. This is of greatimportance particularly in connection with highly embossed labels whichwhen arranged in a stack are highly elastic and if compressed in saidstack even to a slight degree, tend to unduly expand the stack when thepressure is removed and thereby cause the labels or their equivalent inthe stack 5 to overflow the hopper 6. With the instant arrangement suchoverflowing of the stack 5 from the hopper 6 is avoided and inefficientfeeding of the labels therefromv is positively prevented.

Various changes in the specific forms shown and described may be madewithin the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

We claim:

1. The combination of a frame, a vertical hopper supported on saidframe, a support for a progressively decreasing stack of sheets or thelike vertically movable in said hopper, mechanism including an actuatingmember and means for operating said member for elevating said supportand stack in said hopper, a normally stationary controlling memberpivotally suspended on said frame for maintaining the actuating memberof said elevating mechanism against operation, a releasing memberpivotally suspended on said frame independently of and in operativerelation to said controlling member, and means controlled by said stackarranged to pivotally operate said releasing member when said stack hasdecreased to a predetermined extent to cause said releasing member todevelope a pressure upon said controlling member whereby the latter ispivotally actuated to release the actuating member for operation by saidoperating means to actuate said elevating mechanism and thereby raisesaid support and stack to periodically restore the upper end thereof toapredetermined level.

2. The combination of a frame, a vertical hopper supported on saidframe, a support for a progressively decreasing stack of sheets or thelike vertically movable in said hopper, mechanism including an actuatingmember and means for operating said member for elevating said supportand stack in said hopper, a normally stationary controlling memberpivotally mounted on said frame for maintaining said elevating mechanismagainst operation, a shaft journalled in said frame, a releasing memberloosely mounted on and depending from said shaft into operative relationto said controlling member, a yoke fixed on said shaft and extendingacross said releasing member, a lever fixed on said shaft, and a feelerconnected with said lever and arranged to rest upon the upper end ofsaid stack, said feeler and lever rocking said shaft as the stackdecreases and causing said yoke to pivotally actuate said releasingmember when said stack has decreased to a predetermined extent tothereby pivotally operate said controlling member to release theactuating member for operation by said operating means to actuate saidelevating mechanism and permit the latter to raise said support andstack to periodically restore the upper end of the latter to apredetermined level.

3. The combination of a frame, a vertical hopper supported on saidframe, a support for a progressively decreasing stack of sheets or thelike vertically movable in said hopper, mechanism including an actuatingmember and means for operating said member for elevating said supportand stack in said hopper, a normally stationary controlling memberpivotally mounted on said frame for maintaining said elevating mechanismagainst operation, a shaft journalled in said frame, a releasing memberloosely mounted on and depending from said shaft into operative relationto said controlling member, a yoke fixed on said shaft and extendingacross said releasing member, a lever fixed on said shaft, and avertically movable feeler connected with said lever and arranged to restupon the upper end of said stack, said feeler and lever rocking saidshaft as the stack decreases and causing said yoke to pivotally actuatesaid releasing member when said stack has decreased to a predeterminedextent to thereby pivotally operate said controlling member to releasethe actuating member for operation by said operating means to actuatesaid elevating mechanism and permit the latter to raise said support andstack to periodically restore the upper end thereof to a predeterminedlevel.

4. The combination of a support for a stack of sheets or the like, meansfor removing individual sheets or the like in succession from the upperend of said stack whereby the height of the latter is progressivelyreduced, elevating mechanism for raising said support and stack, and afeeler movable vertically into and out of engagement with the upper endof said stack, cooperating means connected with said removing means andfeeler respectively whereby the latter is lifted out of engagement withsaid stack in operative synchronism with said means, said feelerdeveloping a progressively increasing downward movement as the height ofthe stack is progressively reduced, and means operated by said feelerwhen the downward movement thereof reaches a predetermined extent tocoincidentally bring about an operation of said elevating mechanismwhereby the latter periodically restores the upper end of said stack toa predetermined level.

5. The combination of a support for a stack of sheets or the like, adevice for lifting and removing individual sheets or the like insuccession from the upper end of said stack whereby the height of thelatter is progressively reduced, mechanism for operating said device,elevating mechanism for raising said support and stack, a feeler adaptedto rest upon the upper end of said stack and movable vertically into andout of engagement therewith by said mechanism in synchronism with theoperation of said device, said feeler developing a progressivelyincreasing downward movement as the height of the stack is progressivelyreduced, and means operated by said feeler when the downward movementthereof reaches a predetermined extent to coincidentally bring about anoperation of said elevating mechanism in a manner to periodicallyrestore the upper end of said stack to a predetermined level. V

I 6. The combination of a support for a stack of sheets or the like, adevice for removing individual sheets or the like in succession from theupper end of said stack whereby the height of the latter isprogressively reduced, mechanism including a rock-shaft for operatingsaid device, elevating mechanism for raising said support and stack, afeeler adapted to rest upon the upper end of said stack and verticallymovable toward and away from the upper end thereof, a pivoted bell-cranklever connected with said feeler, a cam on said rock-shaft acting onsaid bell-crank lever to vertically move said feeler away from saidstack in synchronism with the operation of said device, said feelermoving downwardly by gravity to a progressively increasing degree as theheight of said stack is progressively reduced and coincidentallyimparting a progressively increasing movement to said bell-crank leverin one direction, and means controlled by said bell-crank lever and saidfeeler in co-operation with said stack to bring about an operation ofsaid elevating mechanism when the progressively increasing movement ofsaid bell-crank lever reaches a predetermined extent to therebyperiodically restore the upper end of said stack to a predeterminedlevel.

7. The combination of a support for a stack of sheets or the like, meansfor successively removing terminal sheets or the like from the upper endof said stack whereby the latter progressively decreases in height,mechanism for elevating said support to restore the upper end of saidstack to a predetermined level, operating means for actuating saidelevating means, normally stationary pendent means pivotally suspendedfor restraining the operating means against operation, a feeler adaptedto rest upon the upper end of said stack and operatively movable towardand away from the same in vertical directions in an operative cycle inpredetermined synchronism with said sheet removing means, said feelerde-' veloping a progressively increasing downward movement as the stackprogressively decreases, and means actuated by the vertical movements ofsaid feeler to a progressively increasing extent in harmony with theprogressively increasing downward movements of said feeler, said lastnamed means being ineffective upon said pendent means until the stackhas decreased to a predetermined extent and subsequently swinging saidpendent means to release said operating means for actuating saidelevating mechanism to a periodically restore the upper end of saidstack to said predetermined level.

8. The combination of a support for a progressively decreasing stack ofsheets or the like, a hopper for containing said stack of sheets or thelike and projecting upwardly beyond the same to confine said sheets orthe like against displacement transversely of said stack, a support forsupporting said stack in said hopper, mechanism for elevating saidsupport to restore the upper end of said stack to a predetermined levelin said hopper, operating means for actuating said elevating means,means for restraining the operating means against operation, a feeleradapted to rest upon the upper end of said stack and operatively movablein an operative cycle into and out of said hopper in vertical directionstoward and away from said upper end of the stack, said feeler developinga progressively increasing downward movement as the stack progressivelydecreases, and means operated to a progressively increasing extent bythe vertical movements of the feeler in harmony with the progressivelyincreasing downward movements thereof to release said restraining meansand permit said operating means to actuate said elevating mechanism toperiodically restore the upper end of said stack to said predeterminedlevel.

9. The combination of a support for a progressively decreasing stack ofsheets or the like, mechanism for elevating said support to restore theupper end of said stack to a predetermined level, operating means foractuating said elevating means, normally stationary pendent meanspivotally suspended for restraining the operating means againstoperation, a pivotally mounted lever, a yoke extending across saidpendent means and pivotally movable with said lever, and a feelerconnected with said lever and arranged to rest upon the upper end ofsaid stack, said feeler and lever rocking said yoke as the stackdecreases, to pivotally actuate said pendent means when said stack hasdecreased to a predetermined extent to thereby release said oper-' atingmeans for operation of said elevating mechanism to raise said supportand stack to periodically restore the upper end of the latter to apredetermined level.

GEORGE W. VON HOFE.

BERNARD D. DANS.

